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**THIS IS A TRIBUTE PAGE FOR EILEEN COLLINS. SHE IS IN NO WAY ASSOCIATED WITH THIS MYSPACE PAGE!! Eileen Marie Collins (b. 19 November 1956 in Elmira, New York) is an American astronaut and a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel. A former military instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first female pilot and first female commander of a Space Shuttle. She retired on May 1, 2006 to pursue private interests, including service as a board member of USAA. Collins first flew the Space Shuttle as pilot in 1995 aboard STS-63, which involved a rendezvous between Discovery and the Russian space station Mir. In recognition of her achievement as the first female Shuttle Pilot, she received the Harmon Trophy. She was also the pilot for STS-84 in 1997. In addition to becoming the first female shuttle pilot, Collins also became the first female Commander of a U.S. Spacecraft with Shuttle mission STS-93, launched in July 1999, which deployed the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. This was Shuttle Columbia's penultimate completed mission, the final one being STS-109, which flew in March 2002. The Columbia was later lost in the Columbia disaster (STS-107) on 1 February 2003. [1][2][3][4]Collins recently commanded STS-114, NASA's "return to flight" mission to test safety improvements and resupply the International Space Station (ISS). The flight was launched on 26 July 2005, and returned on 9 August 2005. During STS-114, Collins became the first astronaut to fly the space shuttle through a complete 360-degree pitch maneuver. This was necessary so astronauts aboard the ISS could take photographs of the shuttle's belly, to ensure there was no threat from debris-related damage to the shuttle upon re-entry.On May 1st of 2006, Collins announced that she would leave NASA to spend more time with her family and pursue other interests.[5]Since her retirement from NASA, she has been seen as a Space Shuttle analyst generally covering Shuttle launches and landings for CNN.ASTRONAUT CAREER: Astronaut Group: NASA Group 13 - 1990. Inactive Entered space service: 17 January 1990. Left space service: 1 May 2006. Number of Flights: 4.00. Total Time: 36.34 days.SPACE FLIGHT LOG: * 3 February 1995 Flight: STS-63. Flight Up: STS-63. Flight Back: STS-63. Flight Time: 8.27 days.* 15 May 1997 Flight: STS-84. Flight Up: STS-84. Flight Back: STS-84. Flight Time: 9.22 days.* 23 July 1999 Flight: STS-93. Flight Up: STS-93. Flight Back: STS-93. Flight Time: 4.95 days.* 26 July 2005 Flight: STS-114. Flight Up: STS-114. Flight Back: STS-114. Flight Time: 13.90 days.EILEEN COLLINS CHRONOLOGY: 17 January 1990 - NASA Astronaut Training Group 13 selected.. The group was selected to provide pilot, engineer, and scientist astronauts for space shuttle flights.. Qualifications: Pilots: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Advanced degree desirable. At least 1,000 flight-hours of pilot-in-command time. Flight test experience desirable. Excellent health. Vision minimum 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 vision; maximum sitting blood pressure 140/90. Height between 163 and 193 cm.Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. Reported to the Johnson Space Center in late July 1990 to begin their year long training. Chosen from 1945 qualified applicants, then 106 finalists screened between September and November 1989. 3 February 1995 - STS-63. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-63, Mir EO-17, Mir LD-4. Deployed ODERACS 2A-2E; deployed and retrieved Spartan 204. Discovery rendezvoused with Russia's space station, Mir, to a distance of 11 m and performed a fly-around, but did not dock with Mir. Payloads: SPACEHAB 03, Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN) 204, Cryo Systems Experiment (CSE)/GLO-2 Experi-ment Payload (CGP)/Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS) 2, Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS), IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC) 11 February 1995 - Landing of STS-63. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: STS-63, Mir EO-17, Mir LD-4. STS-63 landed at 11:51 GMT. 15 May 1997 - STS-84. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-84, Mir NASA-4, Mir NASA-3, Mir EO-23. Atlantis blasted off on a night launch to Mir, docking with the station on May 17 at 02:33 GMT. Jerry Linenger, who had begun his stay on Mir in mid-January aboard STS-81, would return aboard STS-84. Michael Foale would be left at the station for his stint as the American crew member of Mir. The crew transfered to Mir 466 kg of water, 383 kg of U.S. science equipment, 1,251 kg of Russian equipment and supplies, and 178 kg of miscellaneous material. Returned to Earth aboard Atlantis were 406 kg of U.S. science material, 531 kg of Russian logistics material, 14 kg of ESA material and 171 kg of miscellaneous material. Atlantis undocked from Mir at 01:04 GMT on May 22. After passing up its first landing opportunity due to clouds over the landing site, the Shuttle fired its OMS engines on the deorbit burn at 12:33 GMT on May 24. Atlantis landed at 13:27 GMT at Kennedy Space Center's runway 33. 24 May 1997 - Landing of STS-84. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: STS-84, Mir NASA-4, Mir NASA-3, Mir EO-23. STS-84 landed at 13:27 GMT with the crew of Precourt, Collins Eileen, Clervoy, Lu, Noriega, Kondakova and Linenger aboard. 23 July 1999 - STS-93. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-93. STS-93 was first rolled out to pad 39B on June 7 1999. The Chandra/IUS-27 vehicle was placed in the payload canister on June 19. The first launch attempt was on July 20, but controllers aborted the launch at T-6 seconds, just before main engine ignition, due to a data spike in hydrogen pressure data. This was determined to be due to a faulty sensor and a second attempt was on July 22. A lightning storm prevented launch during the 46 minute window, and the launch was again scrubbed. Finally the vehicle lifted off the pad on July 23, but five seconds after launch a short in an electrical bus brought down two of the three main engine controllers. Backup controllers took over, but a further failure on the backup controller bus would have resulted in engine shutdown and the first ever attempt at an RTLS (Return To Launch Site) abort. To further complicate matters engine 3 (SSME 2019) had a hydrogen leak throughout the ascent, causing the engine to run hot. Controllers sweated as temperatures neared redline. The hot engine’s controller compensated as programmed by using additional liquid oxygen propellant. The final result was that the shuttle ran out of gas - main engine cut-off (MECO) was at 04:39 GMT, putting Columbia into a 78 km x 276 km x 28.5 degree transfer orbit. Columbia was 1,700 kg short of oxygen propellant and 5 meters/sec slower than planned. The OMS-2 engine burn at 05:12 GMT circularised the orbit 10 km lower than planned.The orbiter payload bay contained only the Chandra spacecraft, the IUS, and the IUS tilt tableTthe following payloads were carried in the shuttle’s cabin: STL-B (Space Tissue Loss), CCM (Cell culture module), SAREX-II (Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment), EarthKam, PGIM (Plant Growth Investigations in Microgravity), CGBA (Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus), MEMS (Micro-electric Mechanical System), and BRIC (Biological Research in Canisters) and SWUIS (the Southwest Ultraviolet Imaging System, an 0.18-m UV telescope to be used for airglow and planetary observations); GOSAMR (the Gelation of Sols: Applied Microgravity Research experiment) and LFSAH, the Lightweight Flexible Solar Array Hinge. MSX and SIMPLEX experiments were also to be carried out.Chandra/IUS-27 was deployed from Columbia at 11:47 GMT July 23. Flight duration was limited; this was the heaviest shuttle (122,534 kg) and heaviest payload (19,736 kg) to that date. Columbia landed at 03:20 GMT on July 28 on runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center. Post-flight inspection found the presence of holes in the cooling lines on the nozzle of SSME 2019 (engine 3) which caused a hydrogen leak. A loose repair pin in the engine broke free and caused the failure. The cause of the short was found to be chaffed wiring inside the shuttle. The entire fleet was grounded for inspection and replacement of wiring as necessary. 23 July 1999 - STS-93 Mission Status Report # 01. Flight: STS-93. The Space Shuttle Columbia blasted off late Thursday night (early Friday morning, Eastern time) to carry five astronauts to orbit for the long-awaited deployment of Chandra X-Ray Observatory, which will unveil previously invisible mysteries of the universe.After two previous postponements, Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jeff Ashby and ...more... 23 July 1999 - STS-93 Mission Status Report # 02. Flight: STS-93. A little more than seven hours after Columbia and its five astronauts were launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Chandra was spring-ejected from a cradle in the shuttle's cargo bay at 6:47 a.m. Central time, as Columbia flew over the Indonesian Island chain. Commander Eileen Collins, the first female Shuttle Commander, maneuvered Columbia to a safe distance away from the telescope as an internal timer counted down to the first of a two-phase ignition of the solid-fuel Inertial Upper Stage.The IUS lit up as scheduled at 7:47 a.m., and a few minutes later, shut down as ...more... 23 July 1999 - STS-93 Mission Status Report # 03. Flight: STS-93. Chandra was deployed from Columbia a little more than seven hours into the flight at 6:47 a.m. CDT. Thanks to a pair of burns by its inertial upper stage (IUS), the third of NASA's four great observatories is now on its way to an elliptical orbit that will support five years of observations into the X-ray mysteries of the universe."We were extremely confident in the IUS system in placing Chandra in it's orbit," ...more... 24 July 1999 - STS-93 Mission Status Report # 04. Flight: STS-93. Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jeff Ashby and Mission Specialists Cady Coleman, Steve Hawley and Michel Tognini worked on experiments involving everything from astronomy to biomedicine to plant growth as the shuttle continued to orbit the Earth every 90 minutes in excellent shape.Hawley, the resident astronomer on board, used the Southwest Ultraviolet Imaging ...more... 24 July 1999 - STS-93 Mission Status Report # 05. Flight: STS-93. Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jeff Ashby and Mission Specialists Cady Coleman, Steve Hawley and Michel Tognini were awakened at 5:31 p.m. CDT with the song "Brave New Girls," performed by Teresa.Hawley, the resident astronomer of the STS-93 crew, will continue his work with ...more... 25 July 1999 - STS-93 Mission Status Report # 07. Flight: STS-93. The five astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia began their fourth flight day at 4:31 p.m. CDT, preparing to make additional celestial observations through the shuttle's windows and continue work with a variety of experiments.The day started off with a wake-up call sent up in honor of Pilot Jeff Ashby. ...more... 25 July 1999 - STS-93 Mission Status Report # 06. Flight: STS-93. Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jeff Ashby and Mission Specialists Cady Coleman, Steve Hawley and Michel Tognini conducted experiments ranging from astronomical observations with an ultraviolet telescope to cell culture studies. Investigations also included testing new materials which may one day be used to fabricate sturdier solar arrays.Hawley collected additional data for investigators from the Southwest Ultraviolet ...more... 26 July 1999 - STS-93 Mission Status Report # 08. Flight: STS-93. Columbia's astronauts entered the homestretch of their mission this morning, conducting additional experiments in the Shuttle's middeck area as they began preparations for their scheduled return to Earth late Tuesday night.Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jeff Ashby and Mission Specialists Cady Coleman, ...more... 26 July 1999 - STS-93 Mission Status Report # 09. Flight: STS-93. Columbia's crew began packing up experiments today and preparing to return to Earth tomorrow with a touchdown planned on the Kennedy Space Center's shuttle runway in Florida at 10:20 p.m. CDT.Commander Eileen Collins and Pilot Jeff Ashby checked out the shuttle's cockpit ...more... 27 July 1999 - STS-93 Mission Status Report # 12. Flight: STS-93. Columbia's astronauts glided to a smooth landing tonight at the Kennedy Space Center, wrapping up their five-day mission to deploy the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.Commander Eileen Collins flew Columbia to a textbook touchdown at 10:20 p.m. ...more... 27 July 1999 - STS-93 Mission Status Report # 10. Flight: STS-93. Columbia's astronauts tested their ship's systems and packed up their gear, ready for a nighttime homecoming late tonight at the Kennedy Space Center to wrap up their five-day mission.With the Chandra X-Ray Observatory undergoing what so far has been a flawless checkout ...more... 27 July 1999 - STS-93 Mission Status Report # 11. Flight: STS-93. Columbia's astronauts made final preparations Tuesday evening to come home after a successful five-day flight. Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jeff Ashby and Mission Specialists Cady Coleman, Steve Hawley and Michel Tognini were awakened at 2:31 p.m. CDT Tuesday to "A Little Traveling Music" by Barry Manilow, requested by Hawley's wife Eileen, and "The Air Force Song," played for Collins and Coleman.The first major task will be the closing of Columbia's cargo bay doors at about ...more... 28 July 1999 - Landing of STS-93. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: STS-93. STS-93 landed at 03:17 GMT. 1 March 2003 - STS-114 (cancelled). Assignment: Proposed Prime Crew. Flight: STS-114A. Flight delayed after the Columbia disaster. STS-114 was to have been the seventeenth station flight (ULF1). It would have carried the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and carried out a crew rotation. 27 May 2005 - International Space Station Status Report #05-27. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. The Expedition 11 crew entered its seventh week in space today, wrapping up a week highlighted by research, maintenance and training for photography tasks to be done during the Space Shuttle's Return to Flight mission in July. Commander Sergei Krikalev and Flight Engineer John Phillips spent several days conducting examinations of each other using an ultrasound device that provides data on the ability of crewmembers to conduct detailed medical exams in space. The experiment could have future applications for telemedicine or rural health care.Phillips also conducted work with a viscosity measurement experiment that collects ...more... 26 July 2005 - STS-114. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-114, ISS EO-11. Return to flight after loss of Columbia. Delayed extensively as NASA attempted to fix the external tank foam-shedding problem that resulted in the loss of Columbia (first planned for September 12, 2004, the launch slipped to March; May 14, 15 and 22; July 13, 2005). Discovery safely reached orbit at a total mass of 121,485 kg, but extensive video coverage detected external tank foam shedding during ascent. Discovery docked at the Pirs module of the ISS on 28 July 28 at 11:18 GMT. Following replenishment of the station (using the Raffaello MPLM-6 module with 8240 kg of supplies), a series of spacewalks verified the integrity of the shuttle's heat shield and tested repair techniques, Discovery undocked from the ISS at 07:24 GMT on 6 August and landed safely on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base at 12:11 GMT on 9 August. However the shuttle fleet was immediately grounded again while NASA attempted to find a permanent fix to the external tank foam woes. 26 July 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #01. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Discovery launched into a clear Florida sky this morning, returning the Shuttle fleet to space and beginning a journey of exploration to the Moon, Mars and beyond.Discovery lifted off at 9:39 a.m. central time today following a flawless countdown. ...more... 27 July 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #04. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Visitors on a Space Shuttle will arrive at the International Space Station for the first time in over two years today. The Space Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to catch up and dock to the Station at 6:18 a.m. CDT Thursday.During Discovery's approach to the Station, Commander Eileen Collins will pause ...more... 27 July 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #03. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Discovery crewmembers completed a camera survey of the heat shields of the leading edges of the orbiter's wings and its nose cone Wednesday. They also began preparations for Thursday's docking with the International Space Station and the mission's spacewalks.Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi, ...more... 27 July 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #02. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. The crew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery has awakened to its first full day in space. Today it will focus on thermal protection system inspections, preparing for docking to the International Space Station and getting spacesuits ready for three spacewalks.Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi, ...more... 28 July 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #06. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. The first full day of joint Space Shuttle and International Space Station operations will be highlighted by installation of a cargo transportation module, additional orbiter heat shield inspections and spacewalk preparations.Discovery's crew was awakened at 10:39 p.m. CDT by the song "Vertigo" by U2 played ...more... 28 July 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #05. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. The Space Shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station smoothly and right on time Thursday morning, after doing a planned back flip so Station crewmembers could photograph its thermal protection system.Discovery Commander Eileen Collins and Pilot Jim Kelly flew Discovery through the ...more... 29 July 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #08. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Steve Robinson will step outside for their first spacewalk, and the first of this mission, early Saturday. The six and a half hour spacewalk is scheduled to begin from Discovery's airlock at 3:44 a.m. CDT.Discovery's crew was awakened at 10:43 p.m. CDT by the Japanese song "Sanpo," sung ...more... 29 July 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #07. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Space Shuttle and International Space Station crewmembers installed the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and began unloading the pressurized cargo carrier Friday. They also carried out a survey of selected areas of Discovery's thermal protection system and continued preparations for Saturday's spacewalk.Engineering analysis continues on the imagery collected so far, but no apparently ...more... 30 July 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #09. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Space Shuttle Discovery's heat protective tiles and thermal blankets have been pronounced fit for entry after engineers reviewed the imagery and other data to judge their health. Analysis remains on the reinforced carbon-carbon wing leading edges and the protruding gap fillers identified earlier. Aerodynamics experts are evaluating the effect on surface heating that the gap fillers may cause to decide whether any work is necessary to reduce their size.Mission managers today also decided to extend Discovery's mission by one day to ...more... 30 July 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #10. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Transfers of additional water and supplies to the International Space Station will continue Sunday as the crew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery begins Flight Day 6. The STS-114 mission was formally extended by one day as mission managers Saturday decided to spend one more day docked to the ISS.Two additional collapsible water containers holding more than 10 gallons each are ...more... 31 July 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #12. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Now spacewalk veterans, Astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Steve Robinson will step outside for the second of three planned spacewalks today at 3:14 a.m. CDT. The sole objective of the 6 ½-hour excursion is to replace a failed International Space Station attitude control gyroscope.The pair will have about an hour of setup time after exiting Space Shuttle Discovery's ...more... 31 July 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #11. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. The transfer of equipment and supplies from Discovery to the International Space Station and preparations for Monday's planned spacewalk by Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi and Steve Robinson were the focus of today's activities in space.Noguchi, of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Robinson, along with remaining ...more... 1 August 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #13. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. STS-114 mission managers Monday gave the go-ahead for astronauts to remove two protruding gap fillers in Discovery's heat shield during a Wednesday space walk. Soichi Noguchi and Steve Robinson will attempt to simply pull the thin fabric fillers from between tiles in the forward area of the orbiter's underside. If the pull method is unsuccessful, the two will have tools to cut the material flush with the surface.Spacewalk experts presented a plan to mission managers in Monday's Mission Management ...more... 2 August 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #15. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Space Shuttle mission managers Tuesday cleared Discovery's wing leading edge heat shield for re-entry as they methodically deal with concerns over the protruding tile gap fillers. The mission management team also discussed a "puffed out" insulating blanket outside the commander's cockpit window and has decided it poses no risk of overheating during entry. Engineers will continue to analyze whether it could pose a debris problem if it came loose during aerodynamic flight.Discovery's astronauts worked much of today on preparations for Wednesday's gap ...more... 2 August 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #16. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. The Space Shuttle Discovery crew begins their ninth day in space with preparations for the third spacewalk of the mission. This extravehicular activity (EVA) was a preplanned activity for the mission, but now includes a new task -- repair of two protruding gap fillers between tiles on the bottom the Shuttle.The crew began the day waking up at 10:09 p.m. CDT to "Where My Heart Will Take ...more... 3 August 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #17. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Despite days of anticipation and intense planning, space-walking astronaut Steve Robinson made it look easy as he gently pulled two protruding gap fillers from between thermal protection tiles on Discovery's underside Wednesday morning."It looks like this big patient is cured," Robinson told delighted flight controllers. ...more... 3 August 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #18. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. After an eventful day supporting the third spacewalk of the mission, a light duty day of transfer activities, special events and time off lies ahead for the Space Shuttle Discovery crew as they begin their tenth day in space.The seven-member Shuttle crew awoke to the well-known country song "Amarillo by ...more... 4 August 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #20. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Now in their eleventh day of the mission and with three successful spacewalks behind them, the STS-114 crew of Space Shuttle Discovery is slated to begin preparations for undocking and the final day with their International Space Station counterparts. Their activities for the day include final equipment transfers, stowage and return of the robotic arm, boom and cargo container to the Shuttle payload bay."Anchors Aweigh" was the Shuttle crew wake-up song for the day, played at 9:15 p.m. ...more... 4 August 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #19. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Space Shuttle Discovery's heat shield is cleared for the return to Earth early Monday after mission managers decided today that a fourth spacewalk to deal with a puffed out thermal blanket is unnecessary. Wind tunnel tests overnight at NASA's Ames Research Center in California showed little chance of any significant debris coming from the blanket at supersonic speeds. Further engineering analysis showed any debris released from the blanket was unlikely to hit structures on Discovery.Thursday's Mission Management Team decision put to rest the work that was being ...more... 5 August 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #21. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Discovery astronauts and their hosts on the International Space Station undocked the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module from the Station's Unity Node Friday and reberthed it in the Shuttle's cargo bay.Discovery Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Soichi ...more... 6 August 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #22. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. After more than a week of working together in space, the Space Shuttle Discovery and International Space Station crews bid each other farewell tonight.Following a crew farewell ceremony at 11:36 p.m. CDT, hatches between the spacecraft ...more... 6 August 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #24. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Discovery's astronauts will begin turning their attention toward coming back to Earth Monday by stowing equipment and verifying operation of the orbiter's flight control surfaces and system.The crew was awakened at 7:39 p.m. CDT by "The One and Only Flower in the World" ...more... 6 August 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #23. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Discovery is flying solo today, following its early morning departure from the International Space Station, concluding nine days of cooperative work between the two crews.Pilot Jim Kelly was at the controls as latches between the two vehicles were released ...more... 7 August 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #25. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Discovery's crew is spending what should be its last night in space, with an early morning landing planned Monday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, concluding a voyage of 5.35 million miles.In preparation for tomorrow's 3:47 a.m. CDT landing, Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot ...more... 7 August 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #26. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Discovery's Return to Flight mission is scheduled to conclude with a landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center early Monday morning.Discovery has two opportunities to land at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday. The ...more... 9 August 2005 - STS-114 MCC Status Report #28. Flight: ISS EO-11, STS-114. Discovery glided to a pre-dawn landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California this morning concluding a journey of 5.8 million miles, touching down at 7:11 a.m. CDT.


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THESE ARE THE LYRICS TO "EILEEN'S SONG" BY BURLAP TO CASHMERE...THIS SONG IS FOR YOU, EILEEN!!!You have one wing and I have another Seeking shelter like sister and brother Through the winter and through the summer Like one angel we'll Fly far awayHold my hand and we'll make it all right From this hell that we live in Cross the road until the light Comes inside and lives within It's a long and lonesome ride When your friends have all gone home But the roses in your eyes They pull me in so I don't feel alone You have one wing and I have another Seeking shelter like sister and brother Through the winter and through the summer Like one angel we'llFly far away Sometimes I just can't help but cry When I think of what we've become Like a soldier lost in the night Forgetting all where he has come from But the mud will soon become dry And the sun will rise again And the shadows in our eyes Will fade away down to lower plains Cause' You have one wing and I have another Seeking shelter like sister and brother Through the winter and through the summer Like one angel we'llFly far away You have one wing and I have another Seeking shelter like sister and brother Through the winter and through the summer Like one angel we'llFly far away You have one wing and I have another Seeking shelter like sister and brother Through the winter and through the summer Like one angel we'llFly far away So my friend now this I say I won't leave you hangin' on Hold on tight now and don't fly away Till one angel we have become

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Eileen Collins: An Astronaut's Endless Endeavor An astronaut’s work, it seems, is never done.Eileen Collins retired in May, but by October she still hadn’t found time to finish cleaning out her office.Image to right: Astronaut Eileen M. Collins. Image credit: NASA“I’m still answering mail from 2005,” she said. “I haven’t wound down yet. I’ve been extremely busy.”Of course, that statement could also apply to the past three decades of Collins’ life. In 1976, when Collins was a college sophomore, the Air Force announced it would begin training women as pilots. NASA followed suit in 1978 and began accepting women into the shuttle program – just about the time Collins was deciding what to do with her life.“Those were important years for me,” she said. “When the astronaut program opened up to women, that was a huge motivation for me to get my career on the course where I could become a shuttle astronaut someday. And because I was so interested in flying, I wanted to be a shuttle pilot.”Not that it necessarily would have stopped her if the agencies hadn’t started accepting women. Collins started planning to become an astronaut long before she would technically have been allowed to. In fourth grade she read a Junior Scholastic Magazine article on the pros and cons of spending money on the space program. Even at the tender age of 8, she couldn’t imagine how anyone could think there were cons. I read both pro and con, and it made sense to me that our country should invest in space,” she said. “I couldn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t feel that way.”That’s how she caught the space bug. From there, Collins started reading anything she could find on space and airplanes and especially astronauts. And it didn’t faze her that there were no women among them.“I’m not sure why,” she said. “I’m not going to try to analyze it. I just figured there were only men, but I still wanted to do it. And I didn’t think there’d be any reason that a woman couldn’t do it. Maybe I was thinking that women just hadn’t asked.”Still, Collins knew her goal was unusual for a woman – at the time most women stayed home and brought up children. There were plenty of women nurses and teachers, but few engineers or military officers. So she decided not to advertise her plan.“I never told anybody I wanted to be an astronaut or pilot,” she said. “I consciously never talked about it because I knew people would say, ‘You can’t do that.’ And I didn’t want to hear it. I just didn’t want to fight it – it wasn’t worth it. Even when I started my flying lessons – and this would have been when I was between my junior and senior year in college – I didn’t tell my friends. I don’t think I even told my parents.”Instead she saved up the $1,000 she needed for a pilot’s license, drove down to the airport and asked where they taught people how to fly. A year later she was in the Air Force training to be a pilot. Hers was the first class at Vance Air Force Base to include women, and it became her first “first woman to …” experience. She compared it to living in a fishbowl. “Even though women went through pilot training at other bases in 1976 and 1977, we were the first ones at our base,” Collins said. “So I got used to this, ‘OK, here’s the women. Let’s do the interviews, get all that stuff out of the way. OK, now it’s time to train.’ You’ve got to work on training, but yet you still live in a fishbowl because everybody’s asking, ‘How’d the women do on the check rides?’ We were a test program.”So when she became the first woman pilot in the space shuttle program 11 years later, she was expecting more of the same. She was pleasantly surprised.“I think there was a little bit of that here at NASA, but not much because of the women that went through as mission specialists before me,” she said. “They all did very well. I mean, they were superior in the work they did. So when I came here as a woman pilot, it was much easier for me to just fit right in.”By the time she became the first woman space shuttle commander 20 years later, being a woman wasn’t an issue at all. That’s not to say, however, that there weren’t challenges.“My experience has been different than the men’s not in the office, only at home,” Collins said. “Because when I come home, I’m clearly a mom. My husband does a lot of things around the house, but he does the traditional male stuff, and I do the traditional female stuff. The kids bring their backpacks home from school and I go through them and make sure all the notes from the teachers are done. I make sure they’re signed up for their activities and have a way to get there.”Like many working mothers, Collins said that the balancing act that required was the hardest part of her job. When she was training for a mission, it might mean putting the children to bed at 8:30 p.m. and then sitting down at the computer for another three hours of work. And the last mission she flew kept her away from home for five weeks because the launch was delayed. But it was manageable,” she said. “And the mission is eventually going to fly. I would say there’s a lot of people in professional jobs around this city, around the country, that spend more time away from their families than I ever did as an astronaut.”Which is why Collins said she is confused by the lack of women lining up to take her place. The second woman shuttle commander, Pam Melroy, is scheduled to go up in 2007, but she’s the only woman pilot still in the program.“We haven’t hired any women pilots since 1995, and I’m wondering where they are,” Collins said. “I know there are qualified women out there who would love to do this job, and I encourage them to look at this job and to realize that I have had an extremely rewarding career with a lot of flexibility. I’m married. I’ve had two children while I was in the astronaut office. In the 16 years I was here, I’ve flown four missions and had two children, and I’ve been able to do that without too much heartache.”

Heroes:

ALL MEN AND WOMEN THAT RISK THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY. ALL NASA ASTRONAUTS, RUSSIAS COSMONAUTS AND ANY AND ALL PEOPLE THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE FURTHER CONSTRUCTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION AND GIVE HOPE TO THOSE THAT TRUELY WANT TO TRAVEL TO SPACE.